


candles and puppies don't always mix well, but when they do, it's magical

by yixingminseokjongdae



Category: VIXX
Genre: Candle Shop AU, Fluff, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, ongdong makes everything better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-29 01:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11430021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yixingminseokjongdae/pseuds/yixingminseokjongdae
Summary: There's a candle shop on Main Street.Wonshik walks his dog by it every afternoon.There's a very cute guy who works there.





	candles and puppies don't always mix well, but when they do, it's magical

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday johanne ♥

In the few short months that he’s had his dog, Wonshik has come to know his neighborhood quite well.  Ongdong has so much energy that he needs three walks a day, morning, afternoon, and night, and he has a specific route for each time.  In the mornings, he takes Ongdong down the street behind his apartment to the playground to let him run around, and when Sanghyuk jogs by at exactly 7:42 am, he’s awake enough to exchange pleasantries and Ongdong gets pets from a human that isn’t his owner.  At night, he and Ongdong go down to the river and play with whatever stick they can find, and when Hongbin runs by around 9:15 he tosses Ongdong a treat and waves at Wonshik.  (Wonshik keeps telling him to stop spoiling his dog.  It hasn’t worked yet.)  But Wonshik’s favorite route is his afternoon one.  It takes him into the town proper, past the elementary school where Taekwoon and Jaehwan teach (they’re both always outside with at least one of their classes when he passes, like clockwork), and down the main shopping street.  He always peers into the shop windows as he goes by, but when he reaches the candle shop he takes a quick look and then drops his head, because the cute guy is working storefront, just like always.

 

Wonshik had noticed him the first day he took Ongdong out for an afternoon walk and had ended up going down the street.  He had been standing outside the store with a little table full of small candles, explaining intently to another worker how to attract customers while simultaneously yelling “Free samples!” in a loud voice that was somehow smooth like silk.  Wonshik had spotted one that was a fiery red, and he thought that it would look great sitting on his workstation, so he had maneuvered through the few people around and taken a look.  The candle was labeled ‘Bomb’, but there was no specific scent listed, so he had picked it up and sniffed.  It smelled amazing, so he had looked over to the two workers and said, “Excuse me, but what exactly is this scent?  It’s really good.”  The cute one had smiled (and that smile had struck him dumb, all blinding white teeth and cheeks and _cute_ ) and replied, “Oh, I’m glad you like it!  It’s a mixture of cinnamon, cardamom, apple, and eucalyptus.”  Wonshik had nodded, mumbled his thanks, pulled Ongdong away from where he was trying to lick the worker’s ankles, and continued on his way, but that guy’s smile had stuck in his head for the rest of the day.  He had been there every day following, always looking cute in his apron and button up shirt, helping customers or working the register or arranging displays, and Wonshik always sneaks a glance at him as he walks by.    

 

It’s been a month since he first saw the cute candle shop boy.  He has psyched himself up every day of the past month during the walk to the main street, but one glimpse of round cheeks or white teeth or those legs has sent him hurrying past the store, cheeks warm, instead of actually going inside and speaking to him.  But today is different.  (His brain traitorously tells him that he thinks that every day, but nothing ever changes.)  It will be, he tells himself, because he needs a birthday present for his mom and she loves candles and other such home items, and he’s really liked that Bomb candle he picked up, so he squares his shoulders and pushes open the shop door.

The little bell tinkles, and Ongdong barks at the noise, and Wonshik is in the middle of shushing him when the cute worker appears from what looks like a back room, blinding smile in place.  “Hi!” he says, and Wonshik can’t deny that he melts a little inside when he meets the guy’s warm brown eyes.  “Welcome to VIXX Candles, how can I help you?”

Wonshik swallows.  “Um, I need to buy my mom a birthday present.”  The guy grins and Wonshik’s heart starts going double time.

“And this is your second opinion, right?”  He crouches down and pats his knee, and Ongdong bounds over.  “Hi, puppy!  Oh, you’re such a good boy!”  Wonshik can feel the flush creeping up his neck as the guy pets his dog.  “What’s his name?”  
“Hm?  Oh,” Wonshik says, blushing and smiling a little, “his name is Ongdong.”

The guy cocks an eyebrow.  “You named your dog Butt?”

“His face is all squishy and cute like a butt!” Wonshik pouts.  “It’s a cute name.”

The guy starts giggling and he puts a hand over his mouth, and oh man is Wonshik in trouble, because this guy, with his bright smile and tan skin and nice body, also has an adorable laugh.

“You’re right,” he says, still giggling, “it is cute.”  He gives Ongdong one more pat and straightens up.  “So, a birthday present?”  He glances at Wonshik, who nods.  “Soft or intense?”

Wonshik blinks.  “What?”

“Oh, right.”  The guy smiles sheepishly.  “Would you like a softer scent - something light - or an intense scent - something a little stronger?”

Wonshik tilts his head.  “I’m actually not sure.”  He shrugs.  “My mom really likes - um, I guess clean-smelling things?  But she’s been really into flowers lately, and she’s been working a lot, so I wanted to give her something kind of relaxing.”

The guy nods and taps his chin with a long, slender finger.  “Ah!” His face lights up.  “Over here,” he says, leading Wonshik to a different display.  “This one is called Blue Blossom, it’s a mix of baby’s breath, blueberry, and rain.”  He hands Wonshik a very pretty blue candle, and Wonshik takes a sniff.

“Wow,” he says.  The guy grins.

“Not what you expected?”

Wonshik takes another whiff.  “No,” he admits, “it’s much more - airy, I guess?  And the blueberry doesn’t overpower the lightness of the, what did you say the flower was?”

“Baby’s breath,” the guy says.

“Yeah, that!  It’s really pretty.”  He grins at the guy, who grins back.

“Hold on to that one,” he says, “I have another in mind as well.”  He walks over to another display and plucks a teal candle off a shelf, bringing it back to Wonshik.  “If you want a candle for relaxation, this one is really good.”  He holds it out.  “It’s called Maze.”  Wonshik accepts it and inhales.

“I went to Thailand last fall,” he says, “and this smells exactly like the rainforest.  With something else in there, I’m not sure what.”  

The guy smiles again.  “There’s a drop of mango essence in there too.”

“That’s it!”  Wonshik shakes the candle slightly.  “I don't know how you did it, but you guys have bottled - candled? - the tropics.”

The guy ducks his head slightly, cheeks slightly pink.  “I’m glad you like it,” he says.  

Wonshik looks down at the two candles he’s holding.  They both smell amazing despite being completely different, and he thinks his mother will enjoy them both.  “I’ll take both,” he decides, and the guy gives him another blinding smile before heading to the register.  “Come, Dongie,” Wonshik says to his puppy, tugging on the leash, and finally Ongdong stops nosing around the bottom shelf and follows him up to the counter.  He plunks his two candles down and glances around, but he doesn't see the shade of red that identifies his Bomb candle anywhere.  “Sorry to be a bother,” he starts, and the guy glances up at him.  “But I got a sample candle here last month, and I don't see the full size anywhere.”  

He’s got the guy’s full attention now, and that warm brown gaze is kind of heavy, so he looks down at Ongdong, who’s now sniffing his shoes.  “Do you remember what the sample was called?” the guy asks.

“Bomb,” says Wonshik, waaaaay too fast, but the smile that splits the guy’s tan face is kind of worth it.

“That one’s not on shelves yet,” he says, “but I’ve got a couple in the back.”  He winks at Wonshik.  “I’ll throw one in, no charge.”

He splutters for a second before finding words - that wink had broken his brain for a moment.  “Thank you.”

“Ah, it’s no trouble,” says the guy as he opens the back room door.  “I actually came up with that candle, so I’m happy you liked it.”  He returns with a large candle the exact shade of red that Wonshik has looked at on his desk for the last month and sticks it in the bag.

“You came up with it?” Wonshik asks incredulously.  

The guy blushes.  “Yeah.  It was actually the first one I made and pitched as a new scent.”

Wonshik grins at him.  “Well, I really like it.”

“Thanks!”  He rings up the other two candles.  “That’ll be $10.12.”

Wonshik tucks Ongdong’s leash between his knees while he digs out his wallet and hands the guy a ten and a one.  “Keep the change,” he says, “you were a huge help with the present, seeing as I know nothing about scents and candles, and I don’t like having loose coins.”

“Ah, thank you,” he says, smiling again - which makes Wonshik’s knees go weak - and drops the change back into the register.  “If you want to really impress your mom,” he adds, “you could stop by the flower shop at the next corner.  They guy who owns it is an absolute angel.”  

Wonshik smiles back at him.  “Yeah, I was planning to get Yixing to make me a bouquet.”

“Oh, you know Yixing?” the guy says, eyes bright.  

“Yup!  We have a lot of mutual friends, and I take his classes at the dance studio on Promise Way when I have time.”

The guy blinks.  “Lucky One Studio? At 24 Promise?”

Wonshik nods.

“I go there all the time!”  Both of them look at each other before they start giggling.  “How have we never run into each other before?” the guy says, still chuckling.

Wonshik sticks out his hand before all his nerve deserts him.  “I’m Wonshik.”

“Hakyeon,” he says as his long, tan fingers wrap around Wonshik’s.  They shake and Wonshik is about to ask Hakyeon (a beautiful name for a beautiful person, he thinks) what classes he takes at the studio when he hears Ongdong bark, followed by a series of crashes and thuds.  Hakyeon gasps and he looks down to see that his dog’s leash is nowhere to be found.

“Shit,” he says, and whips around to see Ongdong sitting on a table, pawing at one of the toppled candles, and surrounded by many others.  “Ongdong!” he yells, abandoning his purchases at the register and dashing over to the ruined display to scoop up his dog.  “I’m so sorry, he must have wiggled out of my grasp, I don’t know how, sorry, I’m so sorry.”  He keeps apologizing as he bends down to help Hakyeon pick up all of the fallen items, keeping a firm grip on Ongdong.

“It’s alright,” Hakyeon says, taking two non-damaged candles from him and restacking them.  “I can’t tell you how many times one of the part-timers has knocked over a display while cleaning.”  He gathers the damaged ones (ten, Wonshik counts) in his arms and straightens up.  “Ongdong didn’t mean to knock everything over, did he,” he coos, giving Ongdong’s head a scratch.  

“Still,” Wonshik says, following Hakyeon back to the register and holding the back room door open for him so he can deposit the candles on one of the tables.  “I feel awful.  Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?  Or to the owner?  I wouldn’t want you to get blamed for the damage, you can totally blame me, it was technically my fault…” Wonshik realizes he’s rambling and trails off, feeling his cheeks warm.  

Hakyeon raises an eyebrow.  “Well,” he says, drumming his fingers on his cheek, “I don’t know if you can do anything for the owner, but what you can do for me…” He drops his eyes to Wonshik’s hip, and Wonshik can feel all the blood in his body going to either his cheeks or below his stomach.  “You can bring yourself and Ongdongie here back in the shop tomorrow and save me from my daily afternoon boredom.”  Right.  He’s holding his dog against his hip.  Hakyeon meets his eyes again and gives him a hopeful smile.

“Sure,” Wonshik says before his brain can catch up with his mouth.  Hakyeon’s grin turns megawatt.  

“Don’t forget this,” he says, handing Wonshik his paper bag with the three candles inside.  “See you tomorrow, then?”

He can’t help smiling back.  “See you tomorrow,” he says, putting Ongdong down and waving as he exits the shop.

 

After a week of afternoon visits, Hakyeon starts keeping dog treats by the register, much to Wonshik’s chagrin.  What’s even worse is that he somehow managed to buy Ongdong’s favorite brand of treat.

After two weeks, Ongdong starts pulling on his leash to make Wonshik walk faster as soon as they make it to the block where VIXX Candles is.

After three weeks, the schools let out, and Wonshik’s daily visits to the candle shop do not go unnoticed - both by the kids with their parents who see Ongdong and run over asking to pet him, and by Taekwoon and Jaehwan.

 

Jaehwan is the one who mentions it, when he’s over at Wonshik’s home studio recording for his new OST song.  “You disappeared for an hour again today, Shikkie,” he says, mouth full of what Wonshik recognizes as his leftover bulgogi.  “I was hungry and bored.”

“Hi, hyung,” Sanghyuk yells from his gaming setup in the living room, not looking up from the screen.  Wonshik can see the Overwatch logo in the corner.

“But seriously,” Jaehwan says, swallowing his mouthful of Wonshik’s food, “why did Ongdong’s walk take so long?  You take him down Main after you go by the school and then loop back, that’s twenty minutes at the most.”  He taps his chin, eyes thoughtful, and then he spots the paper bag labeled VIXX Candles that Wonshik had set down on the coffee table.  “You spent forty or more minutes in a candle shop?”

Wonshik can’t help the blush that starts to spread over his cheeks.  “Um, uh, maybe?  The guy that works there is um, kind of really nice and we usually chat when I walk by andhesreallycuteandsmartandbeautifulandhelikesongdongandilikehim.”

Jaehwan blinks.  And stares.  And blinks and stares some more.  Wonshik’s entire face is red now, and he feels like just burying his head in his hands, so he does.

“HYUKKIE!” Jaehwan shrieks.  “WONSHIK HAS A CRUSH!”  Sanghyuk hits pause on his game, rips his headphones out, and jump-hugs Wonshik, all 6 feet 2 inches of him landing on Wonshik’s back.

“Sanghyukkie,” he groans, but it’s muffled by Jaehwan’s squeals as he tackles both of them in a hug and Sanghyuk’s laughter.

(He kicks both of them out of his house not long after.)

  


After four weeks, Wonshik gets a call from his affiliates in the city, who send him a round-trip train ticket leaving the next afternoon and tell him that he _has_ to be present for their annual meeting and company dinner, so he calls Jongin and asks him to dog-sit for a couple of days.

He takes Ongdong out earlier than normal after lunch - the excuse he gives himself is he wants to walk his dog one more time before he leaves for two days (it’s not because he wants to see Hakyeon before he leaves and tell him in person that he’ll be away, nope, definitely not).  Because it's barely 1:00, he’s not surprised when he walks by the school and the junior soccer team along with head coach Jung Taekwoon are nowhere to be seen, but he is surprised when he gets to VIXX Candles and Hakyeon is also nowhere to be seen.

The door still opens with a light jingle, and he calls out “Hakyeon?” as he walks all the way into the store.

“Oh!” he hears, and he looks over to see Hakyeon’s head sticking out from the back room.  “You’re early today, Wonshik,” he says, brushing invisible dust off his clothes as he steps out.  The first thing that Wonshik notices is that he’s not wearing his apron, which leads to him looking at how well Hakyeon fills out his white shirt and then taking in his tight, dark jeans and how put-together he looks, unlike Wonshik himself, who’s currently sporting track pants, a baggy Supreme t-shirt, and red sneakers.

Hakyeon smiles at him and he mentally shakes himself.  “Yeah, I have to go into the city this afternoon, so Ongdongie here needed his walk before I left.”  He grins and scratches the back of his neck.  “I also, um, wanted to tell you that I’d be there for a couple days soIwouldn’tbecominginand-” He breaks off when the shop bell jingles and someone slinks in.

“Hakyeonie,” says a familiar voice, “I finally figured out what to do for Hongbin on our anniversary but I need your help picking - oh!”  The guy finally looks up from his phone and Wonshik meets Taekwoon’s surprised gaze.  “Hi, Wonshik-ah,” he says.

The intensity of his friend’s eyes makes Wonshik flush.  “Hi, Taekwoon,” he replies.  Ongdong yanks on his leash and barks, so Taekwoon bends down and gives him a head scratch before straightening and glancing between Hakyeon and Wonshik.

“Why are you here now, Shikkie?” Taekwoon asks, dropping his phone on the counter.  “Aren’t you usually here later?”   
Wonshik flushes harder.  “Um, yeah, but I’m busy this afternoon - wait,” he says, his brain slowly starting to turn, “how did you know that?”

Taekwoon smirks and he hears Hakyeon drop something.  “I usually see you on the corner coming down Main, but that’s always after I have lunch.  And I haven’t eaten yet.”  Hakyeon exhales and Wonshik blushes again.

“Oh, okay,” he says.  He looks back at Hakyeon to see him glaring at Taekwoon, and Taekwoon just raises an eyebrow in response.  “Well, I was just coming in to say that I’ll be on a business trip for a couple days so I’ll see you when I get back, I won’t keep you any longer, bye Hakyeon, Taekwoon!”  He tugs Ongdong out of the shop, waving a little frantically over his shoulder, and down the street.

 

After four weeks and three days, Wonshik is finally back home (he really hates company meetings, but they had given him offers to present to a few people as they had loved the demos he’d produced) and back on his walk with Ongdong.  He’d missed his puppy, even though he had only been gone for two days, and if he’s not lying to himself he’d missed his daily talks with Hakyeon, listening to him gush about different scent markers and the difficulties of wax molding and the unique touches he puts into his creations.  He swears he can identify almost every candle in the shop with one whiff by now.  But when Ongdong speeds up when they reach the corner, the shop front is dark and there’s a paper on the door saying “Closed for vacation, be back next week!”  Wonshik’s mood drops, and not even Ongdong winding around his legs and chasing a butterfly gets him to smile for the rest of the day.

 

After five weeks, the shop is back open, and when Wonshik walks in with a smile he is surprised with a hug.  He automatically wraps his arms around Hakyeon in response, but the shorter man feels so nice in his arms that his voice cracks when he says “Hi.”

“I missed you,” says Hakyeon after he pulls back.  “My afternoons were suddenly incredibly dull again.”

Wonshik pouts.  “But I came back and then you were gone and someone wasn’t getting his afternoon treat,” he responds, looking down.  

Hakyeon smiles.  “Aw, did you miss me too?” he teases, his cheeks turning pink.

Wonshik scratches the back of his neck.  “Maybe?”  He glances up to see Hakyeon kneeling down and rubbing Ongdong’s ears, frozen for a second, and then everything clicks in Wonshik’s brain that Hakyeon meant the dog, not him, but from the way Hakyeon’s cheeks are getting darker maybe he also meant him and ugh Wonshik doesn’t know but he knows that his heart feels like a warm ball of mush when he sees Hakyeon and it just melts completely every time Hakyeon grins at Ongdong and yes he had indeed missed him.

“Well,” Hakyeon says, standing, “I have something special for you then.”  He beckons Wonshik over to the counter and whips out his pouch of dog treats.  “You get two today,” he exclaims, and Ongdong barks excitedly before licking Hakyeon’s ankle and crunching the treats.  Wonshik grins down at his dog and is about to turn around when Hakyeon’s warm hand lands on his arm.  “Um, and something for you too,” he says, and Wonshik looks at him questioningly.  “Since you liked the Bomb candle so much, and you had said a couple weeks ago you wanted to know when I made a new one, here.”  He takes a stunning medium-sized light purple candle from the tiny shelf and holds it out to Wonshik.  “It’s called Hope.”

Wonshik takes the candle and sniffs delicately.  “It’s fantastic, Hakyeon,” he says.

Hakyeon smiles and twists his hands into his apron, then tangles his fingers together.  “Um, it’s called Hope because I was hoping you’d go to dinner with me tonight.”

Wonshik blinks.

Hakyeon meets his eyes for a second before a blush blooms across his face and he looks away.

Wonshik can feel how red his cheeks are but his everything has stopped working because Hakyeon just asked him out.  “Um, uh, um, yeah, dinner, yes,” he stutters, and the answering grin Hakyeon gives him is honestly the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

“Meet me outside the shop around seven?” he asks, cheeks still pink but eyes sparkling.

“Um, uh, okay,” Wonshik answers.  His brain finally kick-starts back into action as he turns to go.  “I’ll see you then.”  He winks and is very pleased with himself when Hakyeon’s mouth drops open a little bit.  He makes it outside and then punches the air, grinning like a madman, and Ongdong barks with joy at his feet.

 

_(At their engagement party, Taekwoon, Hongbin, Jaehwan, and Sanghyuk take it upon themselves to drunkenly recount this story, much to both Hakyeon and Wonshik’s chagrin.  “Why did we invite them again?” Wonshik whispers to his fiancé, tangling their fingers together._

_“Because they’re our best friends,” Hakyeon whispers back, rubbing his thumb over Wonshik’s  hand.  “But they’ve got it all wrong.”  Wonshik smiles.  “The real cause of our relationship wasn’t them, it was that troublemaker over there.”  He tilts his head towards the other table, where Ongdong is headbutting Jongin, looking for pets._

_Wonshik snorts.  “You’re not wrong.”_

_Hakyeon pokes his shoulder.  “Am I ever, though?”_

_“Nope,” he answers, pressing a kiss to Hakyeon’s forehead.  “And I love you for it.”)_

**Author's Note:**

> fluff!shik is best shik ok  
> kudos and comments are always appreciated! :)  
> come chat on my [tumblr](http://www.yixingminseokjongdae.tumblr.com/ask)  
> ♥ yixingminseokjongdae


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